Instagram has launched a location-focused map, a repost function, and a globally available “Friends” tab in Reels, strengthening its focus on social discovery and user-to-user engagement.
The updates aim to make it easier for people to share content, coordinate meet-ups, and follow what their friends are enjoying on the platform.
The Instagram Map gives users the option to share their last active location with selected friends. The feature is off by default, and location data updates only when the app is opened, avoiding continuous real-time tracking.
“You choose who you share your location with: friends (followers you follow back), Close Friends, Only selected friends, or no one,” the company explains.
Users can also limit location visibility for certain places or specific people, and parental controls are available for supervised teenage accounts.
In addition to location sharing, the map lets people explore content tied to tagged locations. This could be stories from friends attending a festival, a reel from a creator reviewing a nearby restaurant, or even short “Notes” left directly on the map.
Any tagged content, from reels and posts to 24-hour stories, can appear. The map icon will sit at the top of the DM inbox, with a US rollout already underway and wider global availability planned.
The new Reposts function allows users to share public reels and feed posts to their followers. These will appear in friends’ feeds and in a dedicated “Reposts” tab on the sharer’s profile.
“Reposts are credited to the original poster,” Instagram confirms, adding that this creates opportunities for creators to reach audiences beyond their direct followers. Users can add short notes to reposts before publishing.
Instagram’s “Friends” tab in Reels, first introduced in the US earlier this year, is now available worldwide. It shows public reels that friends have liked, commented on, reposted, or created.
This gives users a more curated, personal view of content trends within their own circles. For privacy, users can hide their own interactions from the tab or mute activity from specific accounts.
While the Map appears to be a direct challenge to Snapchat’s Snap Map, which recently passed 400 million monthly active users, it also taps into demand left by the closure of Zenly, a social map app shut down by Snap in 2023.
Instagram says these updates are part of its wider mission to keep friends connected through the content they share and discover. “Now, with reposts, the map, and the ‘Friends’ tab in Reels, it’s easier for you and your friends to stay in touch through the content you’re enjoying on Instagram,” the company stated.
